I went out to West Coast Armory to pick up the Colt Sporting Rifle they had sent for me. I did not get a chance to really check out all of the details of the CSR before they sent it. I just figured I would take care of that when I received it. To be honest when I first opened the box I was not quite sure what I was getting in to. My Diva side came out suddenly. This rifle was very stock. Stock, stock. Bare bones. It had even less flare than my service AR I shoot in High Power. And those have to be stock on the exterior. I have also been spoiled in the past when manufacturers sent sights as well. Diva rears again. My representative was awesome and said they would absolutely send out an optic right away but I realized we had plenty of options of optics. Short story just made too long, I really dig this rifle.

I was looking at all of my other ARs around the house and realized they are all competition varieties and very heavy. I don’t have an AR I can use for rough stuff. The CSR is basically for hard utility use. It is super light. I loved that. Mr Biden, even we girls can hold and shoot this rifle! Sorry bud. It only weighs just over 6.5 pounds. My CMP service rifle weighs 13. Huge. As I had mentioned, the rifle is pretty plain to look at. But this is the one you don’t have to worry about if you toss it in the trunk, or slide it under the bed. It is the “do-all” rifle. At a price point of under $1000 it makes great sense. I want this rifle in my house by the bed. I am not concerned if it gets dinged up. The main question is did I enjoy shooting it? But of course.

I put my CSR on the sand bag on the bench and attached my scope and mount to the top rails. Now this scope had been zeroed on a different rifle already for 100 yards. It was perfect on the CSR as well. First 3 rounds out of the barrel was a one minute group. In fact two rounds were in one hole. I only needed to adjust the windage 1/2 minute and we were good to go. This tells me that the manufacturing is good that I can place an optic on and sight in easily. Accuracy is right on. I prefer iron sights but I never got a chance to put those on. When I took the rifle out of the box originally I had noticed the upper and lower moved slightly if you twisted them. I mean slightly. But if it really bothers you put a wedge in there. It obviously did not effect accuracy. This is Colt’s work horse not their uber top line. And they admit it.

To get to some of the details I will start from the beginning. The barrel is 16 inches and chambered in 5.56. Attached is Colt’s standard flash suppressor that is GI-ish. It has a 1 in 8″ twist. The overall length of the rifle is 32-36 inches with the adjustable stock out. Making your way back to the trigger guard I love that it is a part of the lower receiver. It is enlarged also. The trigger itself is pretty darn heavy as it is set. It is almost 6 pounds. But I will say that it is super crisp. There are AR models out there I have tried in this price range that have mushy triggers. Hate mushy triggers. Shooting it slow fire or rapid fire was smooth. Although a short rifle and light I did not feel there was much extra kick. On close targets I didn’t see much muzzle rise and the sights came right back on the target. My only complaint was the butt has zero padding. But this is very stock and if it doesn’t suit you it’s

CSR group. First 3 rounds out of barrel were the “two” holes on the right. Photo by Andy Tran-CouchCreativeProductions.com

easily changed. In addition to the rails on top of the recieiver there is a short length of rails for your front sight. There were plenty of threaded holes around the hand guard to attach more rails and accessoris. The charging handle is standard. I liked the sticky Hogue pistol grip with the finger grooves. Back to the buttstock we are given a basic 6 position adjustable piece. There are two sling swivel attachments. I did not see an attachment up front on the hand guard but you could install one. That is just my Service Rifle brain wanting that. You are able to ask for a few extras like an extended side charging handle, extra rails and scope mounts. Additional cost of course. It was not until I was putting the rifle away that I noticed there was not a forward assist on it. Kind of odd but have I ever used that on any of my ARs? No. Am I taking this to Afghanistan to battle? No. Perhaps if hundreds of “un-dead” were heading towards me I may be

concerned. But that is what my 3 or 4 other ARs with 60 round magazines are for. And grenades.

I like this sporty stud. It does its job. I don’t want to send it back. And my husband loved it also. He has already given it a name. Perhaps if I “forget” to send it back to them they won’t notice. I’ll Cerakote a black metallic on the float-tube hand guard, install my iron sights and sleep with it under my pillow.

30calgal

Badger06

30calgal

adam

I picked one of these up and love it. However, I am finding a hard time findings picatinny rails that have such small screws to fit the threads on the hand guard. I want to add one on the bottom for a tactical grip/bipod and a short top rail to mount a 45 degree angled piece to attach a laser. Suggestions? Also,…after about 100 rounds the rail starts to loosen and rattle. How can I sink the tiny screws in hard enough without stripping or snapping my Allen wrench?
Thanks for your help
Adam

Teejay

Hi!

I’m thinking about purchasing this rifle for 3 Gun matches. Do you feel like this would be a good move? It’ll be my first rifle. Money is not super tight but I don’t have benjamin’s hanging out my back pocket either.

Also, I was wondering if the barrel, bolt carrier group and break can be changed? Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

30calgal

Hi Teejay, I would not recommend this one for 3 gun. It is pretty basic and the trigger is not ideal for it. THe price is great but by the time you replace all of these things you have just bought a nicer rifle anyway. Check out Rainier Arms for a build out. Great product and they work with you on building guns. Also a company called SanTan Tactical. Hope to see you at a match!